Dates

Archaeologists have found evidence that date palm trees were being cultivated in eastern Arabia as long as 8,000 years ago. Such a long agricultural history has allowed many varieties of dates to be developed, in three main types: soft, semi-dry, and dry. All three types are relatively low in water content. However, dates that have been allowed to ripen and dry on the tree lose most of the vitamin C that is present in fresh dates that are harvested before drying. Although dates are grown throughout the Middle East and are a major export of Iraq, they are also grown in California and Arizona—primarily the medjool, which is a soft date, and the deglet noor, a semi-dry.
Dates are very sweet, with one 24-gram medjool date providing 66 calories and almost 16 grams of sugar. The smaller deglet noor, at 7 grams, is still more than half sugar by weight.
A 2008 summary of research on dates showed that they are a significant source of ten minerals, including selenium, copper, potassium, and magnesium—and that 100 grams of dates would provide over 15 percent of the recommended daily allowance for them. The review also found that dates are a good source of antioxidants, primarily carotenoids and phenolics. In addition to the four minerals listed above, dates contain boron, calcium, cobalt, fluoride, iron, phosphorus, sodium, and zinc, as well as 23 types of amino acids, which is unusual for a fruit. Unfortunately, many of the dates’ proteins are in the seeds, not the flesh, so it may take new and creative uses of the seeds for dates to realize their role as an ideal food.
Nutritional Facts :
Five dried dates with pits removed provide 114 calories, 30 g carbohydrate, 1 g protein, 0 g fat, 3 g dietary fiber, 21 IU vitamin A, 0.9 mg niacin, 5 mcg folic acid, 1 mg sodium, 270 mg potassium, 13 mg calcium, 16 mg phosphorus, and 14 mg magnesium.